October Progeny DISCONTINUED
by Ariza Luca
Summary: Do you have a wish? A desire? Whatever it is that you want, you can have it... Welcome to Cosmos, known to most as the demon realm. And if you come here, we might be able to grant your wish... For a price. But who are the October Progeny? And why are they helping out a human? (T because of gore) [Rewrite is coming soon.]
1. Episode 1: Forest Wish

**A/N: Based off of Klaziki's amazing Maplestory animation 'October Children'. I highly recommend you check it out. (Uh, I sound so formal... COOKIES! There)**

 **And... I'm adding yet another story. STOP IT, PLOT BUNNIES!**

 **The next update of Recode Reality'll come tonight; I need to look at the puzzle and the website I usually check up the puzzle for is gone, so... yee.**

* * *

The sound of a piano playing rang out through the house's hallways, passing a guy with black hair and red eyes. Well, eye- his left eye was hidden by a black patch. He wore a black jacket over a red shirt, and black pants that had slightly frayed ends to them. He shook his black hair out of his eyes, making dark brown flash out at anyone who happened to be glancing at him. "It's today, isn't it?"

"Yep- some humans might come today." The player of the piano, a girl with a red left eye (she had a bandage covering the other eye), a sheet of long black hair, and a red-gold pin clipped securely into her hair, glanced up from the piano to look at the boy, her gothic skirt splayed out on the seat upon which she was poised.

The chandelier above them creaked noisily as a girl with black hair but red streaks (normal red hair, not some other odd shade), her eyes hidden completely by a red blindfold, swung crazily, her cape dangling towards the floor and her gothic top-hat nearly toppling from her head. "I wonder what kind of humans'll come..." and she giggled.

The player of the piano shrugged again, smiling brightly. "Well, we'll see soon."

* * *

Lukas grinned at his mother, a frailer-looking woman with honey-blonde hair standing in the doorway. "I'm off to school now, Mom!"

 _Name: Lukas Cetolo_

 _Age: 17_

 _Height: 5'8"_

 _Weight: -_

"Have fun, sweetheart," she responded warmly, moving a hand to brush a stray lock of hair out of the way. If she'd been anyone else, he'd have grumbled and swatted it away, but since she wasn't, he didn't.

"Okay. Take care of yourself while I'm gone." Lukas's happy demeanor turned a bit more serious. "Otherwise you won't get better."

"Oh, I know, I will, don't worry," and his mother leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

Lukas grinned and lifted his hand in a wave before trotting off. "Okay, bye Mom! See you later!"

Trotting along the street, past cars and taxis and other various vehicles on the sidewalk, he was suddenly knocked to the side by a man wearing dark sunglasses and a dark jacket holding... a girl's bag?

"Somebody stop him!" A girl shouted desperately, "he stole my bag!"

Irritation creased Lukas's brow. So that's why this dude was holding a girl's bag.

The man was running, but Lukas was racing after him at full speed, before leaping into the air, doing a flip, and landing _on_ the man and knocking him flat to the floor with a squeak of pain (from the thief, not Lukas). He snatched the bag out of the robber's hands and handed it back to the girl who'd raced over to where he was standing with a small smile.

 _... his family owns a dojo._

"Thank you so much!" the girl thanked him enthusiastically, while the robber let out another squeak of pain. Lukas nodded and bobbed his head. "Haha, you're welcome. I got to get to school now, though, so bye."

"Bye, thanks again!" And the girl waved as Lukas gave her another nod and then bolted down the street at full speed again.

If he was late one more time, he was gonna get a detention.

* * *

 _I made it in time..._ he sighed in relief from where he was slumped against the seat, before smiling a bit, eyes shutting a bit, _with a little time to spare, too._

"Hey, do you still remember that forest?"

Lukas's blue eyes opened to see two girls in front of him chatting away. "Yeah, what about it?" the other one asked, unaware that the blonde male was watching their conversation.

"My friend told me that if you go inside and say a wish out loud 3 times, it'll really come true!"

Her friend frowned. "That sounds like some weird myth."

"No, it's real! She tried it out herself before and it worked!" the first girl insisted, bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement.

"Really...? Ehh, I might try it then..."

Lukas chuckled and shook his head slightly. _A wish? It sounds really childish somehow._ Then his eyes softened a bit. _But... if I had a wish... I'd wish for my mother to get well again._

As the last few stragglers made their way into the classroom, he leaned forward and let his cheek rest in his hand. _... maybe I'll check it out after school_ , he finally decided.

* * *

The forest was peaceful, birds chirping, and only the sound of Lukas's footfalls in the grass to interrupt it. He came to a stop a moment later, in a small clearing surrounded by trees and bushes, with a few glimpses of sky. In a way, it was serenely beautiful.

He looked around, before making a funny face and laughing at himself. "... haha, what am I doing here? Believing in something like this is really silly... I should just head back home."

He tilted his head, his funny face falling to a sadder, more plain one. "But.. it would be really nice if my wish could come true..." he finally added, his voice rising to the treetops before the wind carried it away. Turning around, he began to trot back out-

A hand closed around his wrist, yanking him backwards.

Lukas gasped, eyes widening as his eyes flew backwards to see a gloved hand clinging to his wrist from... what looked like nowhere. He let out an alarmed shout as he toppled off balance, to the trees, the sky, hoping someone, _anyone_ would hear him...

But nobody came.

With a flash of light, Lukas disappeared from the clearing, his eyes instinctively flashing shut as his feet trod backwards onto what felt like carpet, a lock of hair dripping onto his shoulder. His hands were shaking, and his eyes were still shut.

 _What... just... happened?_

A girl's voice, huskier and a little deeper than most other girl's voices he heard, sounded right in his ear, making him flinch.

"Ooh... look, Jesse! It's a boy," and on the last word her voice rose into a more sing-songy tone.

* * *

 **A/N: Hehehe...**

 **This was fun to write.**

 **x3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	2. Episode 2: Heart

Lukas's eyes eked open, before he blinked at the house-like surroundings around him; in fact it was quite a nice house; almost a manor. _... huh?_

A light breath puffed against his ear, making his breath freeze in his lungs as he glanced at the short black-haired girl with natural red streaks through it. Her eyes were covered completely by a red silk blindfold, and her shoulders were shrouded by a cape, while a little ribbon from a gothic top hat resting at an almost jaunty angle on her head. "D'you see him?"

"Stop it, Petra," and his head whipped over to see a young woman sitting on the couch, a teacup raised to her mouth. Her gothic dress splayed across the white couch cushions and matched her long black hair, a red-gold clip neatly pinning a bang of it out of her eyes, a bandage wrapped around the one on the right. The left one opened to reveal blood-red irises. "You'll scare him like that."

She set the cup down decisively, before rising to her feet, making the gothic dress bounce around a bit as she smiled at him, hands clasped in front of her. "Sorry. It's probably a little late, but please don't be alarmed. We're not going to hurt you or anything like that. My name is Jesse, and that girl is Petra. Yours?"

Lukas's heart was thudding away in his chest. _It looks like they're the same age as me... maybe they heard the same rumor I did and came here? But... their clothes and eyes..._

His lips twitched. _Cosplay?_

"Is... something wrong, sir?"

He blinked himself back to reality, where the jet-black-haired girl was blinking at him in concern. "Ah- no, my name's Lukas."

Jesse nodded, red eye glinting in the dim candlelight. "Lukas... it's a nice name."

The door opened, and a boy with messy black-and-dark brown hair stepped in, his left eye covered by an eyepatch, yawning loudly, his red eye hooded tiredly. "Did someone just come, Jesse...?" He trailed off upon seeing Lukas, his eyes widening, before he hopped a little bit in place, over so that he was standing next to Jesse. A grin had spread over his face. "Ooh! A boy!"

"Geh-!" Petra looked a little tense now. "When'd you get here?"

Jesse just laughed. "Haha, you're a boy yourself, aren't you Aiden?" she asked, smiling brightly.

"That's exactly why I'm happy! Not a lot of boys come by. Usually it's a girl."

"Mmmnnn, that's true," Jesse said musingly, cupping her hands together neatly and bouncing once in place.

Petra regained her composure and stuck her tongue out with a funny grin on her face, the blindfold still on her eyes- could she see? Now that Lukas thought about it, she appeared to be able to see Lukas, Jesse, and Aiden, even with her eyes covered. "Too bad you don't act like a boy, hehehe."

Aiden's red eye flashed. You could practically see the lightning dancing between them. "Picking a fight, are we?"

"Heh, bring it on."

Lukas felt a sweatdrop slide down the back of his head as a teacup, a vase full of flowers, a chair, a _table_ , a bench, a painting, a candle, and a lamp went flying by in front of him and Jesse as the two teenagers chucked stuff at one another. "Um... are they always like this...?"

"... ah, yeah. Unfortunately. Don't worry about those two."

Jesse stepped in front of Lukas and bowed slightly, one hand resting on her collarbone area as she smiled at him. "Now, how about we have a cup of tea and a quick cha-"

Lukas's eyes widened as a random lamp flew over from where the other two were fighting and knocked into the back of Jesse's head, making her head snap forward and a shocked look come over his own.

The two fighting teenagers literally _froze_ in place, utterly _horrified_ looks on their faces.

Jesse still had a smile on her face, but now her iris switched back so she was looking at them. "Which one of you two threw that?" she asked lightly.

"He-help..." The two teenagers had given up on their fight by now and were practically hugging each other as Jesse turned around fully.

* * *

 **Later...**

Lukas rubbed the back of his head, feeling extremely awkward. "I, um, I should really head back home soon..."

"Oh?" Jesse was resting on the couch, Petra leaning against one arm and Aiden perched on top of the couch. "Well, I guess I should hurry and get to the point then. What did you come here for?" Her sweet-seeming, bright nature completely dropped, her tone becoming brisk and business-like. "Is there something that you desire?"

"I-I... heard that if I came here, my wish would be granted..."

There was a full ten-seconds silence in which all the demons were doing were looking at him... and then-

"Pff-"

The three of them started laughing at the barest huff of air that escaped Jesse's mouth, her own hand up against her mouth and Aiden's huge grin was extremely obvious but highly amused by all this, even as he tried to smother it. Petra had turned around and was hitting the couch weakly, laughing so hard that she could barely breathe.

Lukas felt his face heat up as Aiden gasped for breath. "A-a wish? And you actually believed that?"

"Oh, oh, that's a new one! These humans are just too much!" Petra cackled, still hunched over as she was trying to stop her own laughter but failing miserably.

"I-I know it's stupid but you don't have to laugh so much!" Lukas exclaimed, feeling his blush intensify.

"Sorry, it's just that- pff-" and Jesse dissolved back into laughter.

 _Ahh, how embarrassing... knew I shouldn't have told them._

"Ah, alright, done laughing now..." Jesse cleared her throat and clasped her hands in her lap again, as Aiden asked from his perch on the couch, "so what do you want to wish for?"

"My mom has been sick for a long time... I want her to get well again," Lukas continued, his face still bright red.

Petra's eyebrow arched above the blindfold. "Eh? I see..."

Jesse nodded, her own expression back to serious. "If that's the case... _then you're no good."_

... _?_

"Aiden, what time is it?"

Aiden turned to check the clock, one arm balanced on his knee. "Ah, it's-"

The clock tolled as Lukas turned to check it himself, both of the hands right on the twelve.

Aiden jumped off the couch, eyes wide. "WHAT?! IT'S MIDNIGHT ALREADY!?" he shouted in shock, making Lukas start back in shock.

Jesse was on her feet as well, her eye narrowing. "This is bad... Quickly, Petra! Open the door!"

To Lukas's shock, Petra wasn't even sitting on the couch anymore; she appeared to be sprinting down the hallway already. _How did that- I didn't even see her move!_

"Already on it!" she yelled, before grabbing the door and flinging it open, just in time to see the nighttime forest landscape swirl into a black abyss, before a hot, blinding white light shot out.

"Geh-!"

Jesse's dress was glowing around her legs, and she was tensed. "Tch...!"

Lukas could feel his heart beating in his chest, the thudding loud and clear in his ears as the world around him seemed to fade away. One beat.

Two beats.

Three beats.

The light faded, Petra's arms still flung up in front of her face. "Ah... didn't make it in time..."

Jesse walked forward briskly and grabbed the front of Lukas's shirt, yanking the blonde towards her and making a squeak rise in his throat. "W-what?" he asked as she peered into his eyes, face only inches from his.

After a few moments, she leaned back again, letting go of his shirt, her eyes still narrowed.

"His heart is gone."

* * *

 **A/N: Oh boy... xD**

 **EmilytheAvenger: Thank you!**

 **ChloSky: ... ah! Thank you for pointing out that mistake; I've done my best to rectify it.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	3. Episode 3: Demons

"W-what?" Lukas asked shakily, "doesn't that mean I should be dead...?"

Jesse nodded simply, which really was not a comfort to poor Lukas. "Yeah. You would be dead, if we were in your world. But, we're not in your world. That is why you are still alive." Jesse's voice wasn't that sweet, kind nature anymore- it was more matter-of-fact than anything. "As long as your heart exists somewhere in this world, even if it isn't in your body, you won't die."

Lukas barely had any time to feel relieved about this before Jesse continued, "But... your heart will disappear, leading to your death if we leave things the way they are right now."

"Th-that's... ridiculous..."

Jesse shrugged at Lukas's denial of this. "You can say whatever you want, but what I just told you wasn't a lie," she told him simply.

Lukas felt his stomach drop. His heart would've usually picked up, but he saw what Jesse meant- he couldn't feel it. "T-then... what am I supposed to do...? I can't just die here..."

Jesse let out a tired sigh, her eyelids sliding down over her eyes so she looked very tired. "... I guess there's no other choice..." She hesitated for another moment, before saying, this time in a brisker tone, "well, don't just stand there- let's go."

Lukas blinked at the black-haired girl with the red-gold pin fastened in her hair. "G-go... where?"

"... you'll see," Jesse finally responded, and let out another sigh.

* * *

Lukas felt nervous- he had Aiden and Petra walking behind him, and Jesse leading the way in front of the blonde. He felt almost like he was getting arrested or something. "Um... where are you guys taking me...?"

"We're almost there," Jesse responded, which didn't really answer Lukas's question.

A minute later, they were standing in front of a pair of double doors. Jesse's hand hovered over the doorhandle for a moment, an extremely reluctant look fixed on her face, before a long sigh gusted out from her mouth, and she opened the door.

A pair of rabbit ears twitched in a set of gingery-black hair, before the owner turned around, beaming at the four of them and making his mustache turn up at the ends, unruly hair flopping everywhere as he did so. "Ohhh! Jesse, Aiden, and Petra! You guys actually came all this way to see me? I'm so happy..."

Lukas stared at the man, who was now bouncing up and down, and then at the people who'd just taken him here. Jesse looked as if she'd eaten a lemon, Aiden looked as if someone had just force-fed him a slug, and Petra's face was buried in her hands.

"You guys came at the perfect time! Which one do you think is better? Bunny ears or kitty ears?" The man practically _chirped_ , "Ahh, after all, it must be bunnies! Don't you agree, Jesse? Do you want to try them, too? They're so cute and soft~! Oh, don't think I forgot you two, Aiden, Petra! I have a pair of bunny ears for you two as well!"

That was the last straw for Jesse. She took a step forward towards the man, red eye flashing like a beacon.

 **Ready...**

 **Set...**

 **FIGHT!**

Jesse kicked him into the air rapidly, before grabbing him by the bunny ears and smacking him to the floor, before flinging him sideways again and sending another fist down at his face and then flinging him back to his feet.

When he'd landed, she slammed her hand forward three times violently, hitting him once, twice, thrice, four times in the stomach, grabbing the now-extremely frightened man by the shoulders and slamming him into the floor, before whirling around and judo-flipping him violently again and slamming him to the floor.

 **PERFECT COMBO!**

* * *

 **And so...**

"S-so cruel, Jesse..." the man was now seated at a table, looking supremely uncomfortable, "I thought I was going to die for a moment there..."

Jesse smiled innocently at him, green eye crinkled up. "Oh, if I could kill you, I would've already done so a _long_ time ago," she told him serenely.

The man let out a sigh at her, crossing his arms over his chest. "The same as always, I see... so? Who's the new guy?" And he turned to look at Lukas, who swallowed nervously from where he was seated at the table.

"His name is Lukas," Jesse responded for him, which was good- he wouldn't have been able to respond due to his now-not-in-his-body-heart being in his mouth.

"Oh?" The man turned to look at Lukas. "Well, then, Lukas, I am Soren, the lord of the south of Cosmos."

"... someone like you is a lord in this world?"

It didn't mean to come out like that, but after seeing this guy act like he was six years old, it was just a bit of a surprise to him.

Soren pouted a little and tilted his head. "'Someone like you'...? That's so cruel..." He held that position for a moment, before his tone once again became extremely business-like. "So? What is your wish?"

"His wish is no good," Aiden picked up rapidly, leaning his elbows forward so that they rested on the table, "we were going to send him back to his world."

"Really?" Soren glanced at Lukas. "Why is he still in Cosmos then?"

"If you haven't noticed the time," Petra said sardonically, leaning her cheek onto her hand, "it's past midnight. The portal closed."

Jesse nodded. "Yes, and his heart was taken away."

Soren looked bemused for a second, before snapping his fingers. "Ah! So then this heart... belongs to him?"

A glowing, pale blue flower appeared in the air next to him, hovering above the table. Immediately, Lukas felt a tug of his heartstrings, so to speak- that was _definitely_ his heart.

But...

"That's my heart...? It's in the shape of a flower, though..." Lukas said slowly.

"Hearts that have the form of a flower are the purest... and taste the best." Soren leaned his head onto his hand, the elbow resting on the tabletop. "I wanted to eat it..."

Lukas felt a chill run down his spine. "W-what...? Are you a demon or something?" he asked, shakily.

"Yeah. Those three over there are also demons," Soren said cheerfully, inclining his head at Jesse, Aiden, and Petra. "Well, they're half-demons, actually."

* * *

 **A/N: Ooh! Excitement! Much excitement! xD Jesse also kicks Soren's butt seven ways to Saturday, haha xD**

 **RQTC: Demons or vampires?**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Hahaha xD**

 **rebekahtpe: They had to get Lukas home... but unfortunately it was a bit too late. And Drawing. Definitely drawing.**

 **AnImpatientGir: I will make you wait for eternity, child xD**

 **ChloSky: Nope, it was an honest mistake, haha xD**

 **Lucykillrcassie: He's alive! HE'S ALIIIIVVVVEEEEEE xD**

 **Angelwings: Haha xD**

 **Guest: Does it make sense now? x3**

 **Choco: This happened :3**

 **RapidSammi: Pretty accurate statement, yes xD**

 **EmilyTheAvenger: Thanks! :3 Glad you like it, and I'm glad you liked Hybrid, too!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	4. Episode 4: Heartless

Lukas felt his face go even paler at this little declaration. "Ahaha... you're kidding me, right?" he asked, even though Soren's expression seemed to make it crystal clear that no, the demon lord was NOT joking.

Soren shrugged at the blonde, running a hand through his own ginger-black hair and making it even more unruly than before. "Take a look at everything that has happened so far, Lukas. What's not to believe now?" he asked the blonde simply

"... this is crazy, I must be dreaming," Lukas said, rubbing his temples. But at the same time, there was something inside of him saying that this- everything that was happening right now- could not be a dream. He'd been able to smell Petra's perfume (apple scent, surprisingly) and Jesse's tea (lemon tea) and he'd definitely been able to feel his heartstrings giving increasingly insistent tugs to have his heart back in his body.

It _wasn't_ a dream.

"It's fine with me if you want to believe that," Soren responded simply, "but, it's not a dream. You're in the world of Cosmos, where demons live." His attention went back to the hovering pale blue heart next to him, and his head tilted to one side as his eyelids drooped. "Hmm... should I give you back your heart or not? It's such a pity, such a lovely heart..."

"... um... yes, please, and I'd like it if you'd send me back to my world also," Lukas requested meekly.

Soren tilted his head and looked at the heart, absentmindedly licking his lips. This made Lukas a little nervous. "It's certainly possible for me to do that... but..." He thought about it for a second, before shrugging. "After all, nah."

"What?!" Lukas exclaimed, blue eyes widening, "you mean you're just going to let me die?!" His voice rose up into a squeak at the last word.

Soren shrugged again. "It's not like I know you very well. I don't owe you anything, either. Why should I give you your heart back?"

Lukas's fists tightened from where they were in his lap, feeling his heartstrings give a much more insistent tug. "... you're heartless," he said finally. The moment he said it, his muscles tightened in case Soren took offense and just killed him on the spot.

For some reason, Soren just smiled brightly, as if there were some joke Lukas ought to be aware of. "Oh, I'm not heartless. Those three over there are, though, quite literally, too."

"Soren," Jesse interjected again, her red eye flashing out at Soren impatiently as her fingers drummed on the tabletop, "hurry up and make a decision already. I don't really care if you decide to eat his heart or give it back to him."

Lukas decided not to comment on that.

The ginger-black-haired man let out a dramatic sigh. "... Fine. I'll give you back your heart," and Lukas barely had half a second to be relieved before Soren raised his finger, eyebrow shooting up. "... under one condition."

There was a moment's pause, in which Lukas was trying to decide whether or not he was okay with asking a demon lord for his heart back under one condition. Then he decided he'd much rather be alive and doing work for this guy than dead. "Name it..."

"There's been some trouble around Cosmos lately, and I want you to solve it," Soren answered simply, folding his hands neatly on the table.

"... what kind of trouble?" Lukas had the feeling that he was going to regret asking this question, but he was hardly just going to agree blindly to this.

"I'll explain later, it's getting late," Soren responded promptly, before smiling brightly at Lukas and tilting his head again. "I know you'll agree to it anyway since if you don't, you'll die."

Lukas decided not to comment on that again, mainly because that was true.

"Well then," Aiden spoke up, tugging at the collar of his jacket, "I suppose we'll be heading back now."

"No, stay here for the night," Soren responded simply and almost before Aiden had finished speaking, "it's dangerous for Lukas outside, since he's a human."

Aiden and Petra turned to shoot Jesse a look. Well, Lukas assumed so for Petra; since she still hadn't taken off her blindfold.

Jesse hummed and let her eyelids drop slightly, her gaze becoming hooded. "That's true... I don't want to, but I suppose we don't have a choice but to stay here..." she murmured, sounding rather reluctant about this.

Soren grinned again, tilting his head. "Yep. Are you tired, Lukas?"

"Yeah... especially after everything that's happened." The moment the words left his mouth, he realized it was the truth; Lukas realized that he _was_ tired. Adrenaline had been pumping through him ever since Jesse had quietly declared that his heart was missing, but now that it was draining out he was absolutely _exhausted_ by the whole ordeal.

"Well then, you can rest here for the night. The same goes for you three," Soren said cheerfully, Lukas's heart still glowing and hovering in the air next to him, Lukas's heartstrings still giving increasingly insistent tugs. He debated thumping his chest to make them stop.

"Yes, thank you," and Jesse inclined her head in the faintest nod in the black-ginger-haired man's direction.

There was a moment's silence, before her red eye twitched slightly in irritation. "Take off those stupid rabbit ears already." There was a definite edge to her voice now.

"Ehhh?" Soren tilted his head with a theatric pout, the rabbit ears bouncing once as he did so, "but they're so cute!"

Lukas's eyes tightened in worry. _... this is all so ridiculous, but... I guess I don't have any other choice but to accept it._

* * *

 **A/N: Random fact; Aiden and Jesse both like tea, but Petra prefers fruit juice.**

 **And that's the first episode of October Progeny done! (Yes, I know that the chapters say the episodes, but the thing this is based off of has four episodes as of right now, and I just finished the first episode)**

 **RQTC: Would you rather have your fandoms, or cake?**

 **Fandoms. I don't really even like cake that much, haha xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: No spoilers. xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Stayin' cool xD And I'm glad you like this so far!**

 **rebekahtpe: That's actually debatable, I'm not sure when they come in myself xD And yes. Sooo many times.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	5. Episode 5: No Good?

Jesse was half asleep, but she had enough sense to feel that her shoulders weren't covered by the blanket. She'd changed from her usual frilly dress into a t-shirt and shorts, so she was a bit chilly.

Opening her eyes halfway, she pulled the blanket back up so that it covered her shoulders.

She really had to wonder, though, why was the blanket pulled down? She never tossed or turned when she slept...

She opened her eyes again.

A shadow fell over her face at the sight of Soren snoring away in the spot next to her, wearing striped red pajamas and a nightcap. There was a good five second pause in which she said absolutely nothing.

"GAAAAHHHHHHHHH-!"

Aiden flicked on the light as he banged open the door, adrenaline pumping through him with his tank top and pants and his right eyepatch being slightly off, his brown hair a complete and utter mess. "What happened?!" he demanded.

Jesse turned around, her red eye glowing darkly, and a shadow over her eyes, fists clenched tightly at her sides.

Aiden stepped back a bit, one hand going to his mouth. "Geh-"

And then Jesse _beamed_ at him. You could be forgiven for thinking that he had been imagining that furious look she'd had on her face. "Ahh, Aiden. It's nothing." She reached out, one hand clinging onto the back of Soren's pajamas, the demon lord dangling from her grip almost pathetically. "Dispose of this trash for me, please. I'll make it up to you later." She opened her hand, and Soren thudded to the floor loudly. "I'm going back to sleep."

The door slammed shut.

Aiden stared at the door, red eye wide, before turning his head so he was looking at Soren, who was lying facefirst on the floor. "...You still alive?"

A minute's pause before Soren finally stirred to answer Aiden's question. "... no."

* * *

Petra stared (well, stared... she had a blindfold over her eyes) in Soren's direction, a completely appalled look on her face. "... you _really_ wanna die, don't you?"

Jesse was sitting in a chair, her arms crossed so tightly that she was almost ripping the fabric of her dress, staring resolutely away from Soren, who was half-hidden beneath the table in fear. A shadow was over her furiously glowing left eye, and she was very obviously furious right now.

"You didn't have to be that cruel, Jesse..." Soren said timidly.

"If you speak anymore, I'll tear out your throat," Jesse shot back simply.

Soren shrank beneath the table a little more.

Lukas stared at Jesse from where he was perched on the seat next to Aiden. "... Jesse is really scary when she's angry, isn't she...?" he finally asked, faintly.

Aiden shrugged a little bit, watching Jesse glare resolutely away from Soren. "Yeah, but if you think she's scary just like that, then you haven't seen anything yet. Jesse has to hold back when it comes to Soren."

"Why? Because he's a demon lord?"

"Well... not exactly," Aiden hummed thoughtfully. Lukas had the uncomfortable feeling that Aiden was trying to figure out how to dumb it down so he would understand it properly. Finally, the black-brown boy simply stated, "If Soren dies, then the three of us will die as well."

Lukas blinked. "... why?"

Aiden turned to look at the blonde boy, tilting his head thoughtfully. "Remember when we asked you what your wish was? Humans with wishes are drawn to this world. The demon lords form contracts with the humans that come here if they can grant their wish."

"... contracts?" Lukas mused.

"Yeah," Aiden nodded, "their wish will be granted if they can serve the demon lord for a thousand years here."

Lukas's blue eyes went wide and round, like marbles. "A thousand years?! You'd have to be pretty desperate to do something like that..."

Aiden shrugged nonchalantly at this. "Yeah. But there are people that desperate. Like me, Jesse, and Petra." He looked away from Lukas again, almost as though he were uncomfortable about talking about it.

Lukas looked at Aiden, eyes narrowing. "Does... that mean... you three formed a contract with Soren?"

"Yep. That's why we're like this right now."

"What did you guys wish for...?" Lukas regretted the question almost the second it left his lips.

To his credit, Aiden didn't get offended at this very personal question- he just shrugged. "We don't remember. Our hearts were taken away, and our memories were sealed, so we wouldn't try to run away in the middle and break the contract. That is why Soren said we are literally 'heartless'."

"Oh... I see now," Lukas said slowly. And he did see, sort of. "But... if you guys are supposed to be humans, then why do you look like demons...?"

"We're not completely human anymore. We're half demon now," came Aiden's prompt response. "Although, that's only because we were given the power of demons. See, Lukas, the reason why humans are wanted is because they are not of darkness or of light. So, they can use both dark and light magic. ... and also, what's most dangerous to demons wouldn't be as effective on us."

"I see..." Lukas frowned a bit now. "I don't understand why my wish counts as 'no good' though."

Aiden tilted his head and adjusted the eyepatch over his left eye. "Your wish is no good because the wish is granted after you serve for a thousand years. Even though time passes faster here compared to the human world, your mom would be dead by then."

"... o-oh..."

"... and so, Soren, don't you have something to tell Lukas?" Petra spoke up again, making Lukas jump; she'd been so quiet that he'd honestly nearly forgotten the black-red-haired girl was even there.

Soren blinked from where he was half-crouched beneath the table. "Oh, yeah, that's right. Wait here for a bit."

* * *

 **A/N: BOOM! Chapter done! Lol, Jesse's pissed at Soren now xD**

 **rebekahtpe: (laughs) Yeah, I get what you mean. And cream soda. It's one of the only sodas besides Sprite which I actually like.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Well, I'm glad you liked this chapter, at any rate.**

 **SquiddyTheBlaze: (thumbs up) Thanks, fam xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	6. Episode 6: Cosmos

"Why did you turn off the lights?" Lukas wondered, before a red glow filled the darkened room.

"... oh."

Soren was holding his hand out, a red image of a sort of continent hovering over his palm, large enough for them all to see. "This is a simple image of Cosmos. Cosmos is divided into five parts- North, West, East, South, and the center. Each part has a ruler. Right now, Lukas, you're in the south, which is ruled by yours truly. The west is called Sky City and is ruled by Isa. She's the only female ruler right now."

A small picture of a black-haired woman with red eyes that looked _extraordinarily_ similar to Jesse appeared on the screen. She only remained for a few seconds before the image switched to the North, where a man with black hair mixed with streaks of white appeared, glasses perched on his nose and a permanent scowl seemingly fixed on his face. "North is Polaris, which is ruled by Hadrian."

The image switched again, this time to the East. "The east, Enchantra, is ruled by Ivor. He's been around the longest out of all of us," and a man with a beard and long black hair appeared. His eyes were also red, but they seemed to have a hint of wisdom to them that none of the other rulers seemed to have.

"Magnus used to be the ruler of Jupin, the center. However, he was assassinated, and since then, Cosmos hasn't been peaceful," Soren continued calmly, as if this was totally normal. "Because there isn't a ruler present in Jupin, all the trouble gathers there. Normally, we don't bother with the matters of the other places, but because Jupin is in the center, it affects everyone."

This was already making Lukas rather uneasy; so it didn't help when Soren continued, "But, this is only the problem on the surface."

The image changed to a door. "Underneath Jupin, there's a door connected to Cosmos and your world, Lukas. Unlike the portal that you came from, which opens every month in order to bring in humans, those with a physical body cannot go through the door."

He nodded at the image of the door. "Within the door is another dimension where negative energy from both worlds gather. A long time ago, after a large amount of negative energy accumulated, it began to gain its own consciousness. Because it had no form of its own, the negative energy moved to Cosmos to find a body. In order to protect Cosmos, the ancient demons removed the door from the human world, and sealed the negative energy inside the dimension within the door.

"Right now, that door is locked by five keys. Each lord has one key. When Magnus was assassinated, his key was stolen. At first it had simply gotten lost, but Isa's key was stolen recently. This means that there's someone trying to steal all of the keys to open this door."

The image slowly faded back out of sight as Soren laced his fingers together and set it on the table. "So, what I want you to do, Lukas, is find who's up to this, and why he or she is trying to open the door."

"What?!" Lukas exclaimed immediately, blue eyes widening, "how in the world could I do that alone? T-that's impossible!"

"I never said you were going alone," Soren replied in turn, "those three-" and he nodded at the three half-demons sitting around the table- "are going along with you."

Jesse huffed and glared at Soren, red eye gleaming dangerously. "I refuse. This doesn't have anything to do with us. He's doing this to get _his_ heart back," she snapped at him.

Lukas still wasn't sure whether Jesse was scary, or nice. She was probably both, now that he thought about it...

"Well, guess what?" Soren asked simply, "I refuse to accept your refusal. Even if Lukas wasn't here, I would've ordered you to do this. You'll only have to watch over him for about 13 days, anyway. His heart's will probably disappear around that time, so I'll eat it before that happens."

Lukas felt chills shoot down his back at this casual declaration from the demon lord. "B-but, that's even more ridiculous...! How can you expect me to be able to do that in 13 days? Even with these three helping...! It's impossible!"

Soren just shrugged at this. "If you don't want to do it, that's fine. I'll just eat your heart right now." There was a very long, very pregnant pause in the room, where Aiden and Petra watched the two of them (well, he was assuming for Petra) with faintly nervous looks and Jesse just looked annoyed by the whole affair, before Soren said simply, "I am a demon. Not exactly the most merciful creature in existence."

Another long pause.

"So? What will it be? Will you take up the challenge, or just give up?"

Lukas sighed and kneaded his forehead with his fingers. If aspirin existed in this world, he would really have liked a couple. "... okay. I'll do it." He shot Soren a bit of a glare. "And I am going to succeed. I will not let you eat my heart just like that."

"Good," and Soren smiled at him, "work hard then." The smile faded as his manner went to a more serious one once again. "Time is limited, so you guys should probably get moving now."

Jesse stared at Soren with angry red eyes (or, well, eye) for a moment, before letting out this long sigh. "Fine. But, I'm heading back for a while first. Aiden, Petra, you two stay here." Her gaze switched back to the blonde human, her arms still folded across her midriff tightly. "Lukas, come with me."

Lukas blinked at her addressing him. "Um... okay..."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for being AWOL for five days or so! I was drawing a comic, so I spent two days straight sitting at a desk. After that I was in no mood to be creative. :3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (whistles casually)**

 **Emily The Avenger: (grins)**

 **rebekahtpe: All sweets. Without my fandoms I would also die xD also I don't even eat sweets that often, so I would be fine. xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


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